1. To succeed as a writer you must be really, really good.
   Not true. You just have to be professional and competent. There are plenty of mediocre writers making a great living.
2. Writers are born not made.
   Not true. I know of no baby writers. Writing requires much reading and plenty of life experience.
3. Almost no one can make a living at just writing.
   Not true. There are plenty of writers (often writing in a genre) who do very well financially. If you insist on only writing literary fiction, consider also teaching.
4. The best selling genre is mystery.
   It’s actually romance.
5. To be successful as a writer you need a lot of luck.
   Maybe. But I notice writers that are the most successful are usually also the most prolific.
6. In order to write a novel, you need a great idea.
   Not true. There is nothing new under the sun, it’s just the approach, handling, viewpoint and style that varies. What may seem like a very old idea in the right hands can be gold.
7. Ideas are hard to get.
   Not true. This is one of the most oft repeated myths. In fact, ideas are everywhere. An overheard conversation, a place, an object, an event, these are just a few of the many ways to find ideas.
8. It’s good to show your writing to friends and family.
   Not true. It’s a lousy idea. Only show your work to a professional writer or editor. No one else is qualified to know anything about writing.
9. In order to write you must have lots of free time.
   Not true. Many people write on their way to work, at night, on weekends, or during vacations.
10. Imitating another writer’s style is a bad way to learn to write.
    Not true. Many excellent writers began by imitating a writer they admired and then eventually found their own voice and style.

The above list contains only a fraction of the many myths about writing. Here’s one more: If you can write an email you can write a short story or novel. This is ridiculous. An email, whether personal or business, has nothing to do with dramatic structure, character, conflict, action or resolution. An email is a letter, not a story. If you can add, subtract and multiply, that does not make you an astrophysicist. I hope none of this is in any way discouraging. If you want to write… write! Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. As Walt Disney once said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” And that’s not a myth.

The post TEN POPULAR WRITING MYTHS appeared first on Marc Bilgrey.

Just about everyone has heard of or seen an improv show. But what does a performing style that’s known for comedy have to do with writing serious fiction? Especially, since the definition of the word improv is  making things up as you go along and not writing a script ahead of time. First of all, improv need not be about comedy. I’ve seen improv shows that were serious and meant to be.  (As opposed to certain comedy ones I’ve seen that just turned out that way). And second, there’s an expression among improvisers that improv is writing on your feet. Just because something is not written down, doesn’t mean it’s not a story. For thousands of years people told each other stories orally. Writing only came later.

People who aren’t familiar with improv think all it takes is going up on a stage and talking. Great improvisers make it look easy, however, it’s very much like playing a musical instrument. There’s a lot to know. Here are a few of the basic principles of improv and how they might help your fiction writing. These can be applied to both short stories and novels.

YES, AND – This is the one that even people who know nothing about improv have heard of. Yes, and, is all about agreement. Have your characters agree with each other and then add to what they’re saying or doing. For instance, let’s say your story starts with a man and a woman sitting on a couch in an apartment. The man says, “Let’s go out tonight.” The woman says, “That sounds good.” (That’s the yes part.) She then says, “And let’s go to a movie.” That’s a simple example of yes, and. Statement, agreement, addition. So what does this do? It moves a story along. If the woman said, “No, I don’t want to go anywhere,” everything is at a standstill. A skeptic might think, well, then the story is about the man and the woman in the apartment. Maybe. But unless they agree eventually, all you have is an argument. And not only that, the story would take a lot longer to get off the ground. Yes, and, makes it immediately move forward.

DON’T BLOCK – The example I gave of the woman saying she doesn’t want to go anywhere is a block. It stops the story. The natural human reaction to anything new is to block, to disagree, to tell the other party why it won’t work. Whether it’s new idea, another way of doing something, or an invention. In real life such a response is annoying, frustrating and can stand in the way of progress. In a story, blocking stops the action cold. If you agree, the story moves forward. If you don’t it stagnates.

DON’T PLAN – The essence of improv is spontaneity therefore planning is the antithesis of improv. In writing a story some people write outlines and others don’t. (The planners and the pantsters – named for seat of the pants writing.) I think not having a plan makes it more exciting both for the writer and the reader. How can the reader guess where you’re going if even you don’t know?

THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED – Your short story is about the most important day in your character’s life. (Your novel is about the most important time in your character’s life.) The day (or time) when things changed. A day like no other. Good fiction is about change. Whether it’s comedy or drama. Your character changes.

These are just a few improv principles that might help your writing.  More about improv in a future post!

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The post IMPROV PRINCIPLES THAT MIGHT HELP YOUR FICTION WRITING appeared first on Marc Bilgrey.